While food was also the main attraction for Carla Martinez, 29, she said she enjoyed other parts of the festival. "I love all the Bollywood and stuff, so I love all this dancing that they've got going on," she said. "I really love the Asian culture because I grew up in Alief."

Martinez said she would have liked to see more cultures represented.

"They should have included Pacific Islanders, like Filipino culture," she said.

Grand opening

The festival was held to celebrate the grand opening of the Texas Center.

"The Asia Society had done programs since 1979, but the programs were always held in hotels and rental spaces," said Executive Director Martha Blackwelder.

"Having a building was something (the society) always wanted to do."

In the early 2000s, the Asia Society began looking for an architect to design the building and eventually settled on Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi. The society began building the 40,000-square-foot center in the beginning of 2010. In the fall of 2011, the $48.4 million building was completed.

"It's taken a long time to put all the pieces together," Blackwelder said. "It took that much time because there were two financial crises during that period of time. ... We had to secure the funds before we started the construction, because we're nonprofit, and we can't take on a risk like that."

Volunteers helped show off unique facets of various Asian cultures, from the Taiwanese kites to Sri Lankan spices, at several booths.

Volunteer's incentive

"It was quite a bit of money (to attend the society's gala Friday), so I found that they were looking for volunteers. I thought that was an easy way to go and see," said Christopher Thomas, 43, who volunteered at the Sri Lanka booth. Some of the performers and educators had worked with the Asia Society before.

"They're awesome," said Vaibhav Jain, 23, a member of the musical group Riyaaz Qawwali. "They really do justice to a lot of first-generation kids who try to connect to their cultures."